Fire-extinguishing apparatus.



No. 881,076. PATBNTED MAR. 3, 1908.

I 0,. HOWARD.

FIRE E XTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED APR.10.1905.}RE}NBWE] AUG. 14, 1907.

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CHARLES HOWARD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FIRE-EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Application filed April 10, 1905, Serial No. 25%,809. Renewed August 14, 1907. Serial No. 388,552.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES HOWARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and the State of New York, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for holding chemical fire extinguishing material that is soluble in water and said apparatus is designed primarily to be connected to a piping system containing water under pressure. In the apparatus of this character with which I am familiar it has been the custom heretofore to rovide receptacles for holding the chemica material of such a construction that said material is supported or contained in the receptacle in the form of a solid mass. When the water is turned on in apparatus of this type much trouble has been encountered owing to the fact that the material being in one mass will present a relatively small surface to the water, which hinders solution, and, as said material has generally become more or less hardened through long standin much trouble is found in breaking up a sing e mass of the same. Another defect in apparatus of this type is that the chemical matter con tained therein being in the form of one mass will obstruct and prevent a free flow of water through the apparatus.

My invention comprehends an apparatus provided with means by which the chemical extinguishing material is supported in separate portions and in such manner that the water passing through the same will come in contact with a large surface of the material and then be suitably charged.

In the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters refer to corresponding parts I have shown two species of apparatus of a type included in my broad invention.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a vertical cross section of one form of my apparatus showing the same attached to a water system, Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 22 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a detail showing a portion of one of the reticulated plates shown in Fig. 2.

In the drawings 1' represents a metallic shell or receptacle of suitable shape provided at its lower portion with the outlet pipe 3 and at its upper portion with the cover 2 and inlet pipe 4. aid shell is also provided with a flushing pipe 5. The numeral 6 represents a water pipe of a pressure system to which the receptacle 1 is connected by pipe 4 and supported by any suitable means, as brace 7.

Referring to Fig. 1 the perforated base plate 8 is supported on suitable lugs, as 10, and said base plate is adapted to support the removable guide 9. Loosely disposed about said guides are the reticulated plates 11 provention, as it will be seen that I thus providea large amount of surface of the chemical material for the water to act upon, as well as cause the water to flow in such a free and unobstructed manner that clogging is revented. At the top of this apparatus arrange the perforated distributmg plate 23 provided with supporting legs 12.

In the operation of the device with the parts arranged as in Fig. 1 water, preferably under pressure, entering by the pipe 4 will flow through the perforated top plate 23 and thence throu h the passages formed by the staggered tabIets on the reticulated plates 11 in a zig-zag path through the receptacle thus coming in contact with a great portion of the surface of all the tablets whereby the water is suitably charged with extinguishing material. As the tablets dissolve the distance between the recticulated plates 11 and the tablets 13 will always be maintained the same for the reason that the plates 11 resting on the tablets by the legs 12 will descend as the tablets are worn away and this will cause thedistance between the plates and tablets to remain uniform. By this action an even and steady flow of the water will be maintained.

Having thus described my invention what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a fire extinguishin apparatus, the combination of a I receptac e, a base plate therein, a guide mounted on the base plate, and a series of supporting plates loosely mounted upon said guide and tablets of soluble fire-extinguishing material carried by the supportingfplates, substantially as described.

2. In a re extinguishing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle, a base plate therein, and a series of supporting plates each having depending legs loosely mounted in said receptacle above the base plate tablets of soluble fire-extinguishing material carried by the supporting plates, the legs of the adjacent plates resting upon the tablet next below, substantially as described.

3. In a fire extinguishin apparatus, the combination of a receptac e, a base plate therein, a series of supporting plates each having depending legs loosely mounted in said receptacle one above the other, and tablets of fire extinguishing material arranged in staggered series on said sup orting plates said ta 1 plate next above, substantially as described.

4. In a fire extinguishing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle, a series of horizontal reticulated plates loosely mounted therein one above the other tablets of soluble 2 fire-extinguishing material on the plates, each plate being provided with depending legs and resting uponthe adjacent; tablets, substantially as described.

CHARLES HOWARD.

Witnesses:

J. G. BLAIN, GEO. W. HOWARD.

ets contacting With t e legs of the 20 

